FOI/202500468778 · FOI · already published
Scottish Government exercising Section 50 (5) of the FOISA act: FOI release
Information requested
1) Since January 1st 2002, how many times has the Scottish Government not handed over information to the Scottish Information Commissioner for investigations due to exercising section 50(5) of the FOISA act?
2) Can you please cite the SIC decision number and FOI reference number concerning these?
Response
In order to respond to your request, we have broken the time frame into 3 distinct passages of time and outlined further detail below. These time frames are:
1st January 2002 – 31 December 2019 1st January 2020 – 3rd May 2025 4th May 2025 - 2nd June 2025 (date of new request)
Please note that FoI(S)A was not enacted into legislation until 1st January 2005, as such the Scottish Government does not have any information for the time frame of January 1st 2002 until December 31st 2004 as there is no information held.
The time frame of 1st January 2020 to 3rd May 2025 is identical to your previous request which we complied with on 2nd June 2025. I have determined that this time frame is a repeated request for information and this part of your request, with regards to both part 1 and part 2, is refused under section 14(2) of FoI(S)A – repeated request.
The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on repeated requests at: Briefing Section 14 - Vexatious or Repeated Requests.pdf. When determining whether a request is considered to be a repeat request, the briefing specifies at point 45 on page 12 that in considering whether a reasonable period of time has elapsed between the previous request and the new request, there are two questions which will help the authority:
(i) has the information changed?
(ii) have the circumstances changed?
In this case, the information we hold for the time frame of 1st January 2020 to 3rd May 2025 inclusive is the same as at the time of your previous request. We have also considered the circumstances and have concluded that there has been no significant change. For these reasons, we consider that your request is repeated and we are not obliged to comply with it.
For the remaining time periods not covered in our previous response I have taken each of your questions and answered them in turn.
1) Since January 1st 2002 how many times has the Scottish Government not handed over information to the Scottish Information Commissioner for investigations due to exercising section 50(5) of the FOISA act?
Between 1st January 2002 until 31st December 2019 and between 4th May 2025 to 2nd June 2025 there were no occasions where the Scottish Government did not supply information to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (OSIC) as part of an appeal investigation under the terms of section 50(5) of FOISA. Therefore the answer for this time frame is zero. Therefore, the information you requested for this specific time frame is refused under section 17(1) of FoI(S)A because the Scottish Government cannot provide information that it does not hold.
2) Can you please cite the SIC decision number and FOI reference number concerning these?
As at 2nd June 2025, there has been one further case, not covered in the time period of 1 January 2020 to 3 May 2025, whereby the appeal investigation was complete and a Decision made by OSIC. Full details below: Decision 128/2025: FoI reference 202500450595 (OSIC appeal reference 202500309) – otherwise accessible: Decision 128/2025 | Scottish Information Commissioner
Some of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Information Commissioner's (OSIC) website and I have provided the links to the specific Decision notices above. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
There was 1 'live' appeal case at the time your request was received and therefore no final decision by the Commissioner had been made, therefore no OSIC Decision Number is held for this case and this part of question 2 is refused under section 17(1) of FoI(S)A as this information is not held by the Scottish Government. We are only able to provide information as it is held by Scottish Government up to the date any given request for information is received.
I have provided the FOI reference number, as requested, of this specific case below for completeness.
FoI reference - 202300354496 (OSIC appeal reference 202300617)
About FOI
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Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
Information requested 1) Since January 1st 2002, how many times has the Scottish Government not handed over information to the Scottish Information Commissioner for investigations due to exercising section 50(5) of the FOISA act? I have determined that this time frame is a repeated request for information and this part of your request, with regards to both part 1 and part 2, is refused under section 14(2) of FoI(S)A – repeated request. The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on repeated requests at: Briefing Section 14 - Vexatious or Repeated Requests.pdf. 1) Since January 1st 2002 how many times has the Scottish Government not handed over information to the Scottish Information Commissioner for investigations due to exercising section 50(5) of the FOISA act? Between 1st January 2002 until 31st December 2019 and between 4th May 2025 to 2nd June 2025 there were no occasions where the Scottish Government did not supply information to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (OSIC) as part of an appeal investigation under the terms of section 50(5) of FOISA.
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